Rudy Giuliani said Friday that the United States was not subjected to domestic terror attacks when he was in office.

(CNN) - Echoing recent comments from former Bush administration officials, Rudy Giuliani defended former President George Bush's record on terrorism Friday, saying the country was not subjected to domestic terror attacks when he was in office.

"We had no domestic attacks under Bush; we've had one under Obama," Giuliani said on ABC's Good Morning America.

Democrats and other political observers were quick to question Giuliani's comments, wondering how the former New York City mayor would classify the attacks of September 11, 2001, as well as Richard Reid's attempted shoe-bombing in late 2001.

"Giuliani seems to have forgotten about the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and shoe bomber Richard Reid," ABC's George Stephanopoulos, who conducted the Giuliani interview, wrote on his blog.

Giuliani's comments are similar to those of former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino and former Dick Cheney aide Mary Matalin, both of whom have said in recent weeks no terrorism attacks occurred under Bush.

"We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term," Perino told Fox News last November.

In December, Mary Matalin - a former senior adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney - made comments that seemed to place the 9/11 attacks under President Clinton's watch. "We inherited a recession from President Clinton and we inherited the most tragic attack on our own soil in our nation's history," Matalin a CNN analyst, told John King on CNN's "State of the Union" last month.

soundoff(301 Responses)

Carmelle

What world do they live in???

The GOP makes me sick:

– They have no shame in making up extreme lies
– They look at you in the eyes and tell you what you saw never happened
– They act like Bush was never POTUS in 2001
– They look at you straight in the face, tell you lies and argue them until death!

You don't deserve to be running this country! The Dems might have their own problems but you don't see them running around bluntly lying and making things up like this. omg! Both parties have isseues...but the GOP is SICK!!!!

January 8, 2010 03:25 pm at 3:25 pm |

Mike

What a moron!! The worst terrorist attack 9/11 happened during Bush presidency.

Then again this it is coming from the same guy even his own son wouldn't vote for him when he ran for a president.

January 8, 2010 03:26 pm at 3:26 pm |

Fangbird

How dare he criticize the president in a time of war! Why does Guiliani hate America so much? Traitor!!!!

January 8, 2010 03:26 pm at 3:26 pm |

Carmelle

and please remember the shoe bomber happened IN DECEMEBR 2001...for the GOP followers: December is AFTER September.

and don't forget anthrax threats!

I truly can't stand republicans!

January 8, 2010 03:27 pm at 3:27 pm |

charlie in Maine

So that little thing on 9/11/01 doesn't count?
Or that shoe bomber guy?

Hey GOP everyone is entitled to their own opinion in America and I support your right to wrong.

But you are not entitled to your own facts. Stop lying or shut up!

January 8, 2010 03:28 pm at 3:28 pm |

Andrew

Ah, I just read the headline and jumped right to that conclusion. I see the article points out 9/11 and the shoe bomber. They also forgot all the anthrax being tossed about during that time, too. I don't know how they could overlook it, though. it was such a boon to the duct tape and platic sheet industries.

January 8, 2010 03:28 pm at 3:28 pm |

Brent Sullivan

These Republicans are completely out of control. They have no sense of decency. They're determined to destroy this country. DETERMINED.

January 8, 2010 03:28 pm at 3:28 pm |

dustin

Just another bold faced lie by the GOP that can be easily disproven.

January 8, 2010 03:29 pm at 3:29 pm |

Ray

Is Guiliani high? Bush was in office during the biggest attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor. Unless NYC is its own country, I think he ought to clarify his comments very quickly. Also, does everyone forget the anthrax attacks? Oh, maybe Guiliani doesn't consider that terrorism.

January 8, 2010 03:29 pm at 3:29 pm |

Stephan

Guess a part of the WTC must have hit him in the head that day.

January 8, 2010 03:29 pm at 3:29 pm |

Portland, Maine

stop trying to re-write history Republicans.....the American people are to smart for these lame tactics.

and can the MSM actually call these liars out on air and not after the fact?

January 8, 2010 03:29 pm at 3:29 pm |

Walter in San Diego

I get that this is politics as usual. What I don't get, and this is an excellent example, is why the ABC news correspondant DID NOT question this absurd regurgitation of republican spin?! We need to hold ABC's Good Morning America accountable for not catching such a major blunder and letting this hack of a former mayor get away with lying. The real idiot here is the one sitting on Good Morning America. This is precisely why I don't watch that stupid morning gossip show in the first place.

January 8, 2010 03:30 pm at 3:30 pm |

DJ

9/11 does not count as a domestic attack?? Is he serious!!!

January 8, 2010 03:31 pm at 3:31 pm |

BadBob

There weren't any domestic terrorist attacks against the US during the Bush administration? They why do we have a war on terror at all? These guys are either really stupid or they think that we are really stupid.

Someone put that "bullet" into their talking points for the week, and they all rattle it off as though it is true.

During the wonderful Bush administration, we had the WORST ATTACK ON US SOIL IN THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY, but of course, it wasn't his fault.

January 8, 2010 03:31 pm at 3:31 pm |

Jeffrey

George W. Bush took the Oath of Office on January 20, 2001, right?

I love politicians. Apparently what they say doesn't have to be true, it only has to be loud.

January 8, 2010 03:31 pm at 3:31 pm |

Obama = WORST president EVER

Hey lefty idiots posting on here – Rudy forgot all about September 11, since he almost died in it, right?

Rudy showed more leadership in 5 minutes on that day than Obama will ever show in his entire life.

January 8, 2010 03:31 pm at 3:31 pm |

Christian McDaniel

He hasn't forgotten. He along with other GOP hacks are resurrecting the "Big Lie" approach to propanda production perfected under Joseph Goebbels of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, i.e., If you keep repeating outrageous claims, some percentage of people will believe them regardless of facts. Mr. Giuliani and his ilk are beneath contempt and are a greater danger to American democracy than al Qaeda in my opinion. Every leader should be held accountable for real things that go bad under their watch. Making up fairy tales to sway the masses to one poltical party or the other erodes the quality of participatory government. Their ulitmate goal is to win the game, not enrich the country or its governance.

January 8, 2010 03:31 pm at 3:31 pm |

Chris L.

Ohhh my goodness!!!!!!!! This is beyond belief and even reasoning!!! Can you all imagine how this idiot is totally clueless????????? This is more, more and more proof of how REPUBLICANS don't like to admit anything wrong that they do....CATEGORICALLY! Its just shocking how a person like Giuliani denies or says that there was no domestic terror attack under bush!! What in the world has this man been drinking or smoking?!?!!? And all you ones out there that vote or will vote republican want an officials like Giuliani to represent you?!?!?

Trust me...you won't even see one representative, senator or Republican official even denounce what Giuliani said. Thats how irresposable the GOP has become. When they know they are totally in the wrong or messed up really badly they don't even like to admit or apologize or even be humble about their mistakes from the last administration. Can you people not see that this is exactly why all they are doing is targeting President Obama to fail with lies,lies after lies and distortion after distortions. This is why a America does not move forward effectively, because we have a large part or half of our population that believe more into lies, fear, divisivness and conspiracy theories than ACTUAL and EVIDENT FACTS.

UNBELIEVABLE!

This is why I would never vote for Republicans ever again until they get back to the good ways that they used to be.They've truly become more like radical ideologues. Im an independant but I'd rather lean more towards Democrats than a bunch of right-wing nut jobs and people that don't even know what facts are anymore these days. This is just unbelievable. (shaking head)

January 8, 2010 03:31 pm at 3:31 pm |

Minesh

Did we have a local domestic terror attack like Fort Hood which killed our people by our own countryman before? I don't think so.

January 8, 2010 03:34 pm at 3:34 pm |

Realist

GOP liars. Democrats are going to kick their butts again if these Republicans keep flat out lying.

January 8, 2010 03:34 pm at 3:34 pm |

klo

Republicans disgust me. What was 9/11? The families of those lost must be aghast.

January 8, 2010 03:35 pm at 3:35 pm |

Jeffrey

Maybe Rudy Giuliani was so concentrated on September 11th, that he forgot the year?

Maybe the GOP should start drug testing their candidates.

January 8, 2010 03:35 pm at 3:35 pm |

John, Brooklyn, NY

Actually, with the exception of the bombing on the USS Cole, ALL of the notable terrorist attacks on Americans in the past decade have occurred under the Bush Administration: 9/11, anthrax attacks, etc.

Its interesting that the Republicans scrambled back in 2001 to make sure that Bush wasn't to blame for 9/11 occurring (since he was only 9 months into his term, they reasoned), yet are doing everything that they can to blame a single lapse in security (that resulted in no deaths or injuries whatsoever, by the way) on Obama who was in office for 12 months.

Considering the Republicans have blocked Obama's nominee for the head of TSA – the department responsible for securing our airports – they should be held responsible since, obviously Obama has dilligently worked to ensure that the job was filled and that the department was running effectively.

By blocking the TSA nominee, the Republicans have demonstrated that they not only want Obama to fail...they're actually willing to risk air travelers' lives in the process.

January 8, 2010 03:35 pm at 3:35 pm |

LacrosseMom(stuck in moderation)

Perhaps my comment will be posted this time....... ?

Maybe Rudy is senile? Or he is attempting to rewrite history. Here is the list of domestic terrorist attacks:

1. New York City's Twin Towers, by terrorist who boarded planes IN the U.S.

2. The Pentagon.

3. One other plane, which U.S. citizens fought to stop headed towards the White House or Congress.

4. Anthrax by a domestic terrorist.

5. Richard Reed the "shoe bomber" December on 2001.

Bush keep us safe? Nope.

January 8, 2010 03:35 pm at 3:35 pm |

feup with GOP in Houston

Lest we forget.... 911, anthrax, the shoe bomber were all on Bush's watch. Let's remember too that it was on Rudy's watch that co-ordination of emergency services for the World Trade center was in the WTC even after the first WTC bombing. They're losers.